Container with removable easel



B. F. WEINER CONTAINER WITH REMOVABLE EASEL July 15, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet1 Filed June 27, 1968 gg) INVENTOR.

BENJAMW F. wzmzq M 1* W82, ATTORNEYS y 11969 B. F. WEINER 3,455,439

CONTAINER WITH REMOVABLE EASEL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 27, 1968INVENTOR. BEA AMw F. wimgn.

ATTORNEYS United States Patent Office US. Cl. 206-4526 14 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A container and easel assembly including aneasel for supporting the container in a given inclined position. Thecontainer consists of sheet material having lines of perforations whichform from walls of the container an easel which is removable from thecontainer. Thus, the container may be used to ship articles to anydesired location, and at this location the part of the container whichwill form the easel can be removed along the lines of perforations. Theseparated part of the container, which forms the easel unit, includes apair of container tabs which formed part of the closure of the containerduring the shipping thereof. These tabs are received through slots inthe sheet material of the container to attach the ease] unit to thecontainer in a position for supporting the container at an inclinedattitude.

Background of the invention The present invention relates to containers.

In particular, the present invention relates to that type of containerwhich can be supported on an easel in an inclined position for renderingthe contents of the container easily visible and removable therefrom.

As is well known, when articles in a container are shipped therein, thecontainer is required to be closed. However, when the container arrivesat its destination, it is often highly desirable to arrange thecontainer in such a way that the articles can be conveniently removedtherefrom which being displayed in such a way that they are easilyvisible. For this latter purpose it is known to provide easels whichsupport the containers at suitably inclined attitudes.

However, considerable inconvenience and undesirable additional costs areinvolved in providing easels with which the containers are supported. Ithas, therefore, already been proposed to provide containers with specialconstructions which will enable easels to be derived from the materialof the containers themselves when these containers reach theirdestinations.

However, all of the known structures provided for this purpose sufferfrom several drawbacks. The easels which are made from the material ofthe container itself do not always provide a suitable stable support.When they are removed from the container materiaL'the remainingcontainer structure often is too weak to provide a suitable support forthe articles therein. Also, considerable inconvenience is very ofteninvolved in removing the part of the container which will form theeasel, and in addition considerable inconvenience is involved in settingup such an easel in a position to support the remainder of thecontainer. Also easel devices of this general type often have suchcomplex structures as to be prohibitively expensive.

Summary of the invention It is accordingly a primary object of thepresent invention to provide a container of the above general type whichwill avoid the above drawbacks.

In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide 3,455,439Patented July 15, 1969 an inexpensive container structure whichincorporates into the sheet material of the container an easel unitwhich can conveniently be removed when the container reaches itsdestination.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a simpleinexpensive easel structure, made from the material of the containeritself, and coacting with the container to provide an exceedingly stablesupport.

Another object of the invention is to provide a structure which improvesthe container upon removal of the easel therefrom.

Also, it is an object of the invention to provide a container structureof the above general type which will make it extremely convenient forthe easel unit, after removal thereof from the container, to be attachedin precisely the right way to the container so as to provide a stablesupport therefor.

In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide acontainer structure where substantially the entire easel unit is formed'by parts of the container which in any event are required by thecontainer, so that there is no special material, in addition to that ofthe container itself, which is required to form the easel unit.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide for a containerof the above type a liner which can be optionally used depending uponthe nature of the articles within the container to improve the conditionof the articles in the container after removal of the easel from thematerial of the container and during shipment of the articles in thecontainer, this liner also contributing in certain cases to the securitywith which the easel unit is connected to the container.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a container of theabove type which in its entirety may be formed from a single body ofsheet material, a portion of which forms the easel structure which isremoved from the container when it reaches its final destination.

In accordance with the invention the container consists of sheetmaterial having sections which respectively form top and bottomclosures, a pair of opposed front and rear walls, and a pair of opposedside walls extending between the front and rear walls and between thetop and bottom closures. The front wall has top and bottom edges and isformed between and parallel to the latter with a transversely extendingline of perforations dividing the front wall into upper and lowerportions. The side walls are also formed with lines of perforationsextending thereacross, respectively. The lines of perforations of theside walls respectively extend from the ends of the line of perforationsof the front Wall across the side Walls upwardly to corners where topedges of the side walls respectively intersect the top edge of the rearwall. The top edges of the side walls respectively have, swingablyconnected thereto, a pair of tabs around which the top closure extendswhen this top closure is in a closed position. When the top closure isdisplaced to its open position the tabs are exposed, and then the upperportions of the side and front walls can be removed along the lines ofperforations from the lower portions thereof to form from these upperportions an easel unit which includes the tabs.

The sheet material is formed at the region of the intersections betweenthe side and rear wall with a pair of elongated slots extendingsubstantially parallel to these intersections, and the tabs arerespectively adapted to pass through these slots situating the upperportion of the front wall at a position where it extends perpendicuallyfrom the rear wall with the top edge of the front wall engaging the rearwall and with the opposed edge of the upper part of the front wall,formerly located along the line of perforations, forming an edge onwhich the con- 3 tainer may rest while also resting on the bottom edgeof its rear wall. Thus, by supporting the container on a suitablesurface engaged by the bottom edge of the rear wall of the container andthe edge of the upper front wall portion which is distant from the rearwall when the easel unit is attached to the container, it is possible tosupport the container in a position inclined at a suitable attitude.Because it is the upper portions of the front and side walls which areremoved with the upper tabs to form the easel unit, the contents of thecontainers are exposed only at their upper portions so that theconvenience which the articles in the container are exposed and can beremoved from the container is enhanced by the removal of the easel unit.

Brief description of drawings FIG. 1 illustrates the configuration of ablank of suitable sheet material from which the container of theinvention is made;

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a liner which may optionally be usedin the container;

FIG. 3 is a perspective illustration of the container formed from theblank of FIG. 1, with the liner illustrated in the position it takeswhen oriented properly with respect to the container to enter into thelatter;

FIG. 4 shows the easel unit of the invention after it has been removedfrom the container and laid fiat, FIG. 4- showing that surface of theremoved easel which is opposite to the surface visible in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 shows an elevation the appearance of the rear wall of thecontainer from the exterior thereof;

FIG. 6 is a perspective illustration of the manner in which the easelunit is inserted into the container to be joined thereto;

FIG. 7 shows how the container of invention is supported in an inclinedposition with the easel of the invention; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the closed container.

Description of a preferred embodiment Referring now to the drawings,there is shown in FIG. 1 a blank 10 of a suitable flexible sheetmaterial, such as cardboard, from which the container 12 (FIG. 3) of theinvention is made. This blank 10 is shown in FIG. 1 as it appears whenlooking at the surface of the blank which will form the inner surface ofthe container, so that it is the inside surface of the blank which isvisible in FIG. 1, whereas the exterior surface is not visible inFIG. 1. This sheet material which forms the blank 10 and whichpreferably is cahdboard, as pointed out above, has a plurality ofsections which respectively form the various parts of the container 12.These sections include the rear wall section 14, the front wall section16 which is opposed to the rear Wall section 14 in the finishedcontainer, and a pair of opposed side walls 18 and 20.

The side wall sections 18 and 20 terminate in upper edges 22 and 24 towhich tabs 26 and 28 are swingably connected. These tabs 26 and 28 areintegral with the side wall sections 18 and 20 and are swingablyconnected to their top edges 22 and 24 simply by fold lines formed inthe sheet material, so that the tabs 26 and 28 can fold inwardly towardeach other and outwardly away from each other.

The blank also has a top closure 30 provided with a portion 32 whichforms the top wall of the container when it is closed and with a flap 34which becomes situated next to the inner surface of the front wall 16when the closure 30 is in its closing position (FIG. 8). The top wall 32is hingedly connected to the rear Wall 14 by a fold line situated at thetop edge 36 of the rear wall 14, and when the container is closed thetop wall 32 will extend across and over the tabs 26 and 28 with the flap34 extending downwardly across the front edges of the tabs 4 and intoengagement with the inner surface of the front wall16.

The blank 10 also provides the container with a bottom closure 38 whichcoacts with tabs 40 and 42 respectively hingedly connected to the bottomedges of the side walls 18 and 20 by suitable fold lines in preciselythe same way as the tabs 26 and 28. The bottom closure 38 includes aportion 44 which will form the bottom wall of the container when it isclosed, this portion 44 being-swingably connected tothe front wall 16 atits bottom edge 46 through a suitable fold line. Closure 38 has a rearfiap'48 connected to the portion 44 by a fold line 50 which at itscentral region is formed with an elongated slot 52. The rear wall 14 isformed at its bottom edge 54 with a pair of slits 56 which form for therear wall a swingable depending portion 58 connected to the remainder ofthe rear wall 14 by a fold line 60 and also connected by a fold line 62,which coincides with the'edge 46, to a flap 64.

At its right side edge, as viewed in FIG. 1, the rear Wall 14 isfoldably connected to an integral fastening tab 66 to be adhesivelyconnected to wall 20 at its inner surface and along its edge 68 with theexterior surface of the tab 66, which is not visible in FIG. 1, beingconnected by a suitable coating of adhesive to the inner surface of thewall 20 along the edge 68 thereof.

The wall 14 has opposed vertically extending fold lines 70 and 72 bymeans of which it is pivotally extending fold with the tab 66 and theside wall 18, respectively. The side wall 18 and the front wall 16 areinterconnected by a line of intersection formed by the fold line 74, andthe front wall 16 and side wall 20 are interconnected by a fold line 76which forms the line of intersection therebetween.

Thus, in order to form, from this blank of FIG. 1, the container 12which is shown in FIG. 3 it is only necessary to bring the wall 16around in front of and in alignment with the rear wall 14 with the edge68 of the wall 20 extending along the fold line 70 and with the tab 66engaging the inner surface of the wall 20 and adhesively connectedthereto. Then the flaps 40 and 42 can be folded inwardly and the bottomwall 44 which forms part of the closure 38 can be folded horizontallywith the flap 48 extending upwardly along the inner surface of rear wall14 while the flap 64 is placed through the slot 52, so that the partswill be maintained in this assembled condition. The container 12 isshown set up in this way in FIG. 3. FIG. 8 shows the closed condition ofthe container.

At the fold lines 70 and 72 which form the intersections between therear wall 14 and the side walls 20 and 18 the sheet material 10 isformed with a pair of elongated slots 78 and 80 which are thus situatedin the region of the intersections between the rear wall and the sidewalls and extend along the fold lines 70 and 72.

As is apparent from FIGS. 2 and 3, it is also possible to provide forthe container, as an optional addition thereto, the liner 82 formed ofthe same sheet material as the blank 10 and having a front Wall portion84 and a pair of opposed side wall portions 86 and 88 having,respectively, lower inclined edges 90 and 92. This liner can beintroduced into the container of FIG. 3 with the front wall 84 of theliner engaging the inner surface of the front wall 16 and with the sidewalls 86 and 88 of the liner engaging the inner surfaces of the sidewalls 20 and 18 respectively. Such a liner may be used depending uponthe nature of the articles which are located in the container. If thesearticles are loose elongated articles, such as pencils, elongatedpipette tubes, or the like, then the liner may be used to contribute tothe reliable maintenance of these elongated articles in the container,

As is apparent from FIG. 1, the front wall 16 is formed with a line ofperforations 94 parallel to the top edge 96 of the front wall 16 and thebottom edge 46 thereof and extending therebetween, so as to divide thefront wall 16 into an upper portion 98 and a lower portion 100. Also,the side walls 18 and 20 are formed with lines of perforations 102 and104, respectively. These lines of perforations 102 and 104 respectivelyextend-from the op posed ends of the line of perforation 94 across theside walls 18 and 20 hp to the upper rear corners where they intersectthe top edge 36 of the rear wall 14.

When the container 12 closed as shown in FIG. 8, reaches its destinationand is to be set up for display purposes and convenient removal ofarticles therefrom, the container is d'pened at its top end, and upperportion 98 of the front wall 16 will be removed therefrom along the lineof perforations 94. The line of perforations 102 divides the sidevstalls 18 into an upper portion -106 and a lower portion 108. When theupper portidn 98 of front wall 16 is removed, the removal operationsfare Continued along the line offperforations 102 so that the upperportion 106 of the vsijall 18 is also removed. Infthe same way the lineof perforations 10.4 divides the side wall 20 into an upper portion? 110and a lower portion: 112, and the removal is continued along the line ofperforations 104 so that, with the upper portions 98 and .106, the upperportion-110 of the wall 20 will also be removed.

It will be noted that with this removal the tabs 26 and 28-are alsoremoved to form with the portions 110, 98, and 106 the easel unit 114which is shown in FIG. 4 as it appears at the side thereof which is notvisible in FIG. 1. As is apparent. from FIG. 4 the-tabs 26 and 28respectively have identifying indicia in the form of arrows anddesignations TABA and TAB B.

Furthermore, it is apparent from FIG. 5 which shows the rear wall 14 asit appears at the exterior of the container, the slot 78 is designatedas SLOT A, while the slot :80 is designated SLOT B. In this way theidentifying indicia on the exterior surface of the rearwall 14 of thecontainer 12 coacts with the identifying 'indicia on the tabs 26 and 28to identify particular tabs with particular slots, respectively. Thus,the tab 26 will necessarily be identified with the slot 78 while the tab28 will necessarily be identified with the slot 80.

With the easel 2 unit 114 thus removed from the container, the wall 98is situated so that it extends perpendicularly to the wall 14 (FIG. 6)and the upper portions 106 and 110 of the side walls are bent downwardlyto extend at right angles'downwardly from the wall 98. The tabs 26 and28 will thus be aligned with the slots 78 and 80 and introduced into thelatter in the manner shown in FIG.; 6. This intrpduction is continueduntil the top edge 96 of the front wall 16, now forming an inner edge ofthe upper,portion 98 of the front wall, engages the exterior surface ofthe wall 14. In the case where. the liner 82 is situated in thecontainer the tabs 28 andf26 can extend between the side walls 18 and 20and the diner side walls 86 and 88. However, this liner 82 may beremoved at any time, to facilitate access to the articles. It is to benoted that this access is enhanced by removal of the easel unit 114since in this way the upper portions of the front and side walls areremoved to provide for a free and easy access to the interior of thecontainer and the articles therein.

With the easel unit 114 thus joined to the container, it may be set up,as indicated in FIG. 7, on any suitable supporting surface 116. It is tobe noted that a line 118, shown in dot-dash lines in FIG. 7, situated inthe plane of the surface 116 and extending perpendicularly across thebottom edge 54 of the rear wall and the edge of wall 98 which engagesthe surface 116 defines with the edge 70 at the intersection between theside wall 20 and the rear wall 14 a space within which the free edge 120is located, so that this free edge 120 is situated above the surface116. In the same way the free edge of the upper portion 110 of the wall20 is situated above the surface 116 when the container is set up in themanner shown in FIG. 7. It is preferred to extend the lines ofperforations 102 and 104 at an angle where they will make 45 angles withthe lines of intersection 74 and 76 between the side walls and frontwall and also 45 angles with the top edges 22 and 24 of the side walls18 and 20.

It will be noted that tab 26 is initially at the side 18 oppositefrom-slot 78 and tab 28 is initially at the side 20 opposite from. slot80.

Also, top wall 32 and flap 34 are folded against the exterior surface ofwall 14 to be situated between the latter and edge 96.

What is claimed is:

1. A container consisting of sheet material having sections which form atop closure, a pair of opposed front and rear walls'and a pair ofopposed side walls extending between said front and rear walls, saidfront wall having a top edge which coacts with said top closure and saidside wallsr'espectively having at the elevation of said top edge of saidfront wall freely swingable tabs around which said top closure extendswhen in a closed position, said tabs being exposed when said top closureis displaced to an open position giving access to the ,interior of thecontainer, saidl'front wall being formed with a transverse line ofperforations extending across said front wall to divide the latter in-toupper and loweri portions separable from each other along said line ofperforations, said side walls respectively being formed with lines ofperforations extending from opposed ends of said line of perforationsformed in said front wall angularly across said side walls to said rearwall, so that-lines of perforations of said side walls also divide eachof the latter intoupper and'lower portions separable from each other,whereby upon separation of said upper portions of said side and frontwalls from the said lower portions thereof along said lines ofperforations, the separated upper portions of said front and side wallswill form a unitary easel which includes said tabs, said opposedside-walls forming with said rear wall a pair of intersections, and saidcontainer being formed with a pair of slots respectively extendingsubstantially in the direction of said intersections and having a lengthsufliciently great to receive said tabs, so

i that upon insertion of said tabs respectively through said slots saidseparated upper portion of said front wall can be located at a positionextending rearwardly from said rear wall to support said rear wall in aninclined position resting on its bottom edge and on said separated upperportion of said front wall with at least a portion of the edge of saidfront and said wall upper portion which formerly extended along the lineof perforations of said front and sidewalls engaging a supportingsurface in common with the bottom edge of said rear wall.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a single body of flexiblesheet material forms all of said sections.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said sheet material iscardboard. .a'

4. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said slots are situatedbetween top and bottom edges of said rear wall.

5. The combination of claim 4 and wherein said slots are situatedsubstantially at and extend along said intersections between said sideand rear walls.

6. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a liner having a pair ofopposed end walls and a front wall portion extending therebetween issituated with said end walls thereof located between an engaging saidopposed side walls and with said front wall of said liner locatedinwardly of and engaging said front wall of said sheet material, saidliner having an upper portion which is exposed upon removal of saidupper portions of said front and side walls to form said easel.

7. The combination of claim 6 and wherein said slots are situatedsubstantially at intersections between said side and rear walls andbetween top and bottom edges of said rear walls, and said tabs, afterpassing through said slots, being situated outwardly of and inengagement with said end walls of said liner and inwardly of and inengagement with said side walls of said sheet material.

8. The combination of claim 6 and wherein said liner only frictionallyengages said sheet material to be removable therefrom at any time.

9. The combination of claim 1 wherein said lines of perforationsrespectively extend across said side walls from the opposed ends of saidline of perforations formed in said front wall and respectivelyterminating at the upper rear corners of said side walls where thelatter intersect said rear wall.

10. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said lines of perforationswhich respectively extend across said walls respectively formsubstantially 45 angles with the intersections between said front andside walls and with the top edges of said side walls.

11. The combination of claim 1 and wherein free edges of said upperportions of said side walls, which respectively formerly extended alongthe lines of perforations of said side walls, are located, when saideasel unit is connected to said sheet material with said tabsrespectively passing through said slots thereof, between said rear walland a plane which contains the bottom edge of said rear wall and theedge of said upper portion of said front wall distant from said rearwall.

12. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said sheet material has atits exterior surface in the region of said slots predetermined indiciaand said tabs respectively having at their exterior surfacespredetermined indica which coact with the indicia in the region of saidslots for identifying said tabs with said slots, respectively, so thatsaid tabs can be placed through the slots which are respectivelyidentified therewith.

13. The combination of claim 12 and wherein before removal of said upperportions of said front and side walls the tabs extending from said sidewalls are respectively identified by said indicia thereto with the slotswhich are respectively located in the region of the opposite side walls,so that when the easel is attached to said sheet material a tabinitially located at one side wall will be passed through a slotsituated in the region of the other side wall.

having a top edge which coacts with said top closure and said side wallsrespectively having at the elevation" of said top edge of said frontwall freely swingable tabs around which said top closure extends when ina closed position, said tabs being exposed when said top closure isdisplaced to an open position giving access to'the interior of thecontainer, said front wall being formed with a transverse line ofperforations extending across said front wall to divide the latter intoupper and lower portions separable from each other along said line ofperforations, said side walls respectively being formed with lines ofperforations extending from opposed ends of said line of perforationsformed in said front wall angularly across said side walls, so thatlines of perforations of said side walls also divide each of the latterinto upper and lower portions separable from each other, whereby uponseparation of said upper portions of said said side and front walls fromsaid lower portions thereof along said lines of perforations, theseparated upper portions of said front and side walls will form aunitary easel which includes said tabs, a pair of spaced slots in saidrear wall, each having a length sufiiciently great to receive said tabs,so that-upon insertion of said tabs respectively through said slots saidseparated upper portion of said front wall can be located at a positionextending rearwardly from said rear wall to support said rear wall in aninclined position resting on its bottom edge and on said separated upperportion of said front wall.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,810,475 10/ 1957 Ringler206--45.27 3,065,848 11/1962 Kufiik 20645.27

JAMES B. MARBERT, Primary Examiner

